Under the Arch

GANNON UNIVERSITY FACULTY-STAFF NEWS

Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D., served as a moderator at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14. Garibaldi, who for the last several years has served as a member of a research team commissioned by the USCCB Secretariat for African American Catholics, will moderate a panel discussion on the commemoration of the 25^th anniversary of their 1979 Pastoral Statement on Racism, “Brothers and Sisters to Us.”

Marilyn Dombrowski, Gannon registrar, recently was elected to a four-year term as a faculty advisor on the national executive committee of Phi Eta Sigma, a national honor society.

Dombrowski was elected to the position at the organization’s national convention, held in Savannah, Ga.

Phi Eta Sigma’s goal is to encourage and reward academic excellence among college freshmen. Founded at the University of Illinois in 1923, it currently has more than 300 chapters and more than 800,000 members.

Earlier this year, Gannon University inducted 110 members into Phi Eta Sigma.

Dombrowski has served as advisor to Phi Eta Sigma since 1994.

Charles A. Bennett, assistant professor of economics and director of the Gannon Center for Economic Education, gave a presentation during “Money Counts: A Personal Finance Conference for Teachers.”

Bennett gave his presentation during a session titled “Stock Market Game Sharing,” which was designed for experienced Stock Market Game teachers. The event was held at the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh and was sponsored by Economics Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Securities Commission.

In addition, Bennett recently participated in the Adam Smith Leadership Award Symposium and dinner reception, held at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh.

Awards were presented to students participating in economic and financial education programs at schools in the Pittsburgh region.

Lisa Wenner, associate director of admissions, is serving as a member of a steering committee studying how the National Catholic College Admission Association will commemorate National Catholic Colleges Week.

Christopher Tremblay, director of admissions, gave a presentation titled “Assess Your E-Recruitment Strategy” at the National Association for College Admission Counseling Conference, held in Milwaukee, Wisc. Tremblay discussed some of the features included in the redesigned version of Gannon’s web site as well as the university’s e-communication strategies in working with prospective students.

Tremblay and Deb Peffer, admissions web coordinator, gave a presentation at a seminar at Washington & Jefferson University titled “Enterprise Solutions for Higher Education.” The three spoke about Gannon’s use of Active Admissions, a product offered by LiquidMatrix that combines e-recruiting, targeted e-mail, content management, and online applications.

Penelope Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of English, participated in the Fall 2004 Pennsylvania American Council on Education (PACE) Network Forum, to be held Nov. 7-8 in Hershey, Pa. This year’s forum is titled “Women Leaders of the 21^st Century: Pathways to Presidency.”

Smith was part of a select group of women in higher education leadership positions statewide who will participate in the forum, which is designed to provide support and strategies to help the participants enhance their leadership skills.

Bonita K. Booker, director of the Commonwealth Academic Achievement Program/Act 101 (CAAP) and director of multicultural affairs, recently was honored by Black Opinion Magazine.

Booker was named a 2004 Black Opinion Magazine Black Achiever and attended a Black Achiever Luncheon in Pittsburgh on Oct. 28. Gannon University president Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D., nominated Booker for the award.

Black Opinion Magazine is published bi-monthly by LJS Publishing, Inc., a minority-owned corporation in Pittsburgh.

David Tobin, Ph.D., assistant professor of counseling psychology and director of Gannon’s community counseling program, has been selected for the 2004 “Outstanding Administrator” Award from the Pennsylvania Counseling Association (PCA).

Tobin received the award at the PCA’s annual conference in State College. He was nominated for the award by Gannon community counseling students and the Gamma Upsilon Chi chapter of Chi Sigma Iota.

The award represents the highest honor a counselor/educator in Pennsylvania can receive.

OUR FOLKS

Please remember all in your prayers as regretfully we announce the deaths of:

Mary Gualtieri Peterson, wife of Dr. Paul W. Peterson, professor emeritus.
John Wickware, brother of Lori Wickware, a junior education major.
Maricia Mark, a junior occupational therapy student.
Rev. Monsignor John J. Slater, trustee emeritus.
Alice Orbanek Hough, mother of Monsignor Gerald L. Orbanek, assistant professor and chairperson, department of theology.

OUR EVENTS

Thursday-Saturday, December 9-11 – Gannon University’s Schuster Theatre: “Episode 26” by Howard Korder. The sci-fi movie serials of the ‘30s are brought to life in this comedy penned by the author of Boy’s Life and Search and Destroy. All Thursday-Saturday performances start at 8 p.m.
Friday, December 10 – Gannon University’s Erie Chamber Orchestra: This is the annual Christmas Concert Sing-Along with the St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral children’s choir. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, 130 East 4^th Street.
Sunday, December 12 – Winter Commencement: 2 p.m. in Hammermill Center. Wilbert Bryant, deputy assistant secretary for higher education programs for the U.S. Department of Education, will give the keynote address and will be awarded an honorary degree. The graduation mass will be held at 11 a.m. in the Chapel.
Sunday, December 12 – National Children’s Memorial Day: The ceremony will be held on the steps of Gannon University’s Mary, Seat of Wisdom Chapel at 6:45 p.m. with the registration of names to be remembered and will be followed by a candle lighting ceremony as well as music, readings, and poems. The service, which will be observed worldwide, will honor the memory of children who have died. Call ext. 5624 for more information.
Sunday, December 12 – Mid-Knight Pancake Breakfast: To be held from 9:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. in the Gannon cafeteria. Volunteers are needed to staff the two shifts: 9-10:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.-12 a.m. The breakfast is free to all Gannon students. Call ext. 5800 if you would like to volunteer or donate a door prize to be raffled off for the students.
“Our Events” is intended to serve as a random sample of campus events. For a more complete listing, refer to Eventcal.

CURRENT BIRTHDAYS

James Thompson. Marilyn Dombrowski. Annmarie George. Lauren Foltz. Melanie Dash. Paula Barrett. Heather Turner. Gary Garnic. Karen Weston. Barry Brinkman. Ronald Lombard. Donna Green. Cheryl Rink. Ken Morgan. Timothy Tracy. David Eschenbach. Richard Zack. Judith Kelly. Donna Cessna. Mary Crane. Julie Hartmann. Laura Figurski. Scott Stevens. Lisa Wenner. Stan Zagorski. Britt Daehnke. Janice Sitter. Kevin Hart. Mary Sibley. Tony Fulgenzio. Michael O'Neill. Beth Shick. Jennifer Mailey. Susan Kerner. Sandy Driscoll.

THE PRESIDENT'S SCHEDULE

Tuesday, December 7 – Gannon Small Business Development Center/Ben Franklin Press Conference. Thursday, December 9 – Gathering in Praise; Student Government Association Winter Banquet. Saturday, December 11 – United Way Project Blueprint Power breakfast/panel discussion; Commencement Dinner. Sunday, December 12 – ROTC Commissioning Ceremony; Baccalaureate Mass; Commencement Brunch; Commencement Ceremony; Mid-Knight pancake breakfast

HEARD ON CAMPUS

The Gannon community is invited to a press conference tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 3:30 p.m. in the Yehl Room. During the press conference, the winner of the $25,000 Business Plan Contest will be announced. The contest is sponsored by the Gannon University Small Business Development Center and Ben Franklin Technology Partners.
Special thanks to Gannon colleagues for their assistance with recent media interview requests. Thomas Parthenakis, Ph.D., associate professor of history, did an interview with Robb Frederick of the Erie Times-News on the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Frederick’s article will explore how the date of the event, Dec. 7, remains well known, even 63 years later. David Kozak, Ph.D., professor of political science, did an interview with Ed Palatella of the Erie Times-News on the resignation and possible future plans of Tom Ridge, secretary of Homeland Security. Ridge, an Erie native, was a two-term governor of Pennsylvania.